Think there will ever be a point in time where camera film won't exist and we'll be FORCED to go digital?

Question

Because I seriously love my Minolta 35mm. It takes amazing portraits, especially in black and white. I definitely prefer to use film for black and whites, and if there comes a time where film will no longer be available, or even rare to find, I'm going to be REALLY CHEESED OFF!!!

Answer 1

photography, not for awhile. a single person can handle the entire process. But it will go away. The mess that film is accountable for is staggering. Movie film will be dead, dead as a doornail, within the next 20 years. It's too much of a mess and too costly. Photography film I think will last hundreds of years, but within the next 25 it will become so expensive only the true hobbyest will still be using it.

Answer 2

Not really. 35mm film will continue to be around in our generation and then some. Although it may get more expensive as 35mm film technology is being replaced by digital.

Answer 3

Steven W, film DOES blow out the blacks! More than digital does! Sure, the dynamic range of negative film (approx. 9 stops) is wider than the current 5-7 stops of digital sensors, but digital is more, not less forgiving in shadow information. Of course, blown highlights are a common feature of digital images, particularly in contrasty lighting. But film crushes much of the darkest regions of an image, whereas digital does this to a lesser degree. As a user of Fuji's S3 Pro with its two CCD sensors, one measuring for highlights, the other for shadows, I find it easy to avoid clipped highlights even with JPEGs. Spot metering and patience can cure that ailment even with entry level DSLRs, unless you're shooting into the sun or capturing a glaring reflection. So much of this digital bashing is just trend!

PS for all the veggies out there, how many of you know that the layer-bonding component of camera film is made from the gelatin of a COW'S STOMACH?! No joke. Kodak and Fuji among others spent millions researching a less cruel alternative, to no avail. Click below, scroll to 'Gelatin':

http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/Ot...

Answer 4

No, there will always be film for film cameras. They might get hard to find, but there will always (or for a long time) be film around.

Answer 5

Even though a majority of people prefer horseless carriages, you can still buy horse drawn carriages.  

Likewise, a majority of people for both still photography and motion videography prefer digital, especially as digital cameras improve but nobody's doing anything new with film.  Still, there are plenty of people still making chemical camera film and I'm sure they will for a long time.

Answer 6

Lots of professionals still use film.

Answer 7

It will be hard to find some day but as long as people want to buy it someone will make it. The price will go sky high and will end up being like polaroid film is now.

I do see it being hard to get them printed. You might end up having to developed and scan your own negatives in then have them printed digitally.

Answer 8

Anything is possible.

More and more people or first time buyers of photographic equipment are going directly to digital and the percentage of them that will never try film cameras is continuing to grow.

However; there is a large group of individuals who continue to use film as an art form and will continue to use it for generations to come!

I am sure if you look you will find someone using tintype or glass plates for photograph still today!

If film enthusiasts don't stop working with film it will be continue to be used for the next 100-200 years or so at which point it may no longer exist. UNLESS we can make film from recycled petroleum materials which we probably can and will!

Answer 9

Will it eventually be replaced by digital?  Perhaps.  But at this time, between Ilford seeing increased profits in their film based business and FujiFilm reinforcing their dedication to the silver halide film to the point of re-releasing a very popular 50 ISO slide film and deciding to replace the Polaroid Type 669 film with very admirable results, I don't see this happening for quite some time.

And black and white in film is nice, isn't it?  Doesn't blow out the blacks and the whites how digital does...